I expected more. A former Bolshevik, who captivated
you so, and who, in your opinion, had once again become
a real Bolshevik, should have produced impressive, vivid,
powerful, popular propaganda, a defence of communism
for France, starting from her electrification.

(1) send it to be set at once, in order to publish it soon in
any case;

(2) suggest to Gorev—if you agree—that he should write
in addition a preface or an afterword, in which he should
in very clear and popular form and a little more freely (
prescribe for him to this end three grammes of extract of
Larinism: they say it has appeared on sale in Moscow) attack
French capitalism, and say to the French workers and
peasants: you could become in three-five years three times as
rich, and work not more than six hours a day (approximately)
if there were a Soviet government in France putting
electrification into effect;

(3) if in your (or Gorev’s) opinion, Gorev will do this badly
or unwillingly, then think over whether someone should
not be asked to do this work separately (a brief
“Ballod”[2]
for France);

(4) send me Gorev’s article, as soon as you can, once it is
set up (to he published as a pamphlet or in some journal,
whichever you choose). Perhaps I will write an
introduction.[3]

Notes

[1]Reference is to A. Gorev’s pamphlet Elektrifikatsia Frantsii (The
Electrification of France). It was published in 1922.

[2]Lenin refers to the book by Karl Ballod, Der Zukunftsstaat (The
State of the Future), a Russian translation of which appeared in
1920. Lenin writes of Ballod’s book in his article “An Integrated
Economic Plan” (see present edition, Vol. 32, p. 140).

[3]The introduction to A. Gorev’s pamphlet Elektrifikatsia Frantsii
(The Electrification of France) was not written by Lenin.